Human Rights Accountability Global Initiative
The Human Rights Accountability Global Initiative Foundation (HRAGI or HRAGIF) is a Washington, D.C.–based lobby group, nominally focused on restoring American adoption of Russian children.[1][2][3] It is being investigated as part of the 2017 Special Counsel investigation.[1][2] It is reportedly defunct.[4]
History
[edit]The organization was registered in Wilmington, Delaware on February 16, 2016, with two nominal employees.[4][5] The organization rented the Newseum to screen Andrei Nekrasov's The Magnitsky Act – Behind the Scenes, a film aimed at discrediting Sergei Magnitsky.[6][7]
Purpose
[edit]The nominal purpose of the HRAGI is “to help restart American adoption of Russian children”, though news organizations have reported that its primary purpose was to serve as a vehicle to lobby against international sanctions on Russia.[1][5]
Financing
[edit]The foundation has received over $500,000 in financing, mostly from Russian politician Petr Katsyv who is the father of Denis Katsyv.[1][8] Other major donors include Russian businessmen Mikhail Ponomarev and Albert Nasibulin, and $100,000 from a German company called Berryle Trading Inc.[1]
Staff
[edit]The organization was founded by Natalia Veselnitskaya.[9] The HRAGI hired lobbyists, including former Representative Ron Dellums, to lobby against the Magnitsky Act.[1][10] Dellums denied involvement with the group.[11]
Anatoly Samochornov (Russian: Анатолий Самочорнов), who is a Russian-born professional interpreter, is another lobbyist and is a projectmanager for the US State Department.[3][12]
Robert Arakelian was the listed as the President, treasurer, secretary, and director of the Foundation.[13] Though Arakelian is listed as the incorporator of the foundation, he told the FBI that Ed Lieberman and BakerHostetler actually oversaw the incorporation on February 18, 2016.[3][13]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f Baker, Stephanie; Reznik, Irina (December 21, 2017). "Mueller Is Looking Into a U.S. Foundation Backed by Russian Money". Bloomberg News.
- ^ a b Greenwood, Max (December 21, 2017). "Mueller looking into adoption group funded by Russia: report". The Hill.
- ^ a b c "Letter from Senator Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly" (PDF). Senate Judiciary Committee. April 4, 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 14, 2017. Retrieved May 15, 2024.
- ^ a b Gray, Rosie (July 25, 2017). "Bill Browder's Testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee".
Her first step was to set up a fake NGO that would ostensibly promote Russian adoptions, although it quickly became clear that the NGO's sole purpose was to repeal the Magnitsky Act. This NGO was called the Human Rights Accountability Global Initiative Foundation (HRAGI). It was registered as a corporation in Delaware with two employees on February 18, 2016. HRAGI was used to pay Washington lobbyists and other agents for the anti-Magnitsky campaign. (HRAGI now seems to be defunct, with taxes due.)
- ^ a b Northam, Jackie (September 7, 2017). "Behind Support For 'Adoption,' A Web Of Clandestine Russian Advocates". National Public Radio.
- ^ "Trump signs sanctions bill against Russia as relations worsen". The Los Angeles Times. August 31, 2017.
Veselnitskaya is also the founder of a nonprofit called the Human Rights Accountability Global Initiative Foundation, a nongovernmental organization dedicated to restoring American adoptions of Russian orphans. In June 2016 at the Newseum in Washington, her group helped fund a controversial screening of a film aimed at discrediting Magnitsky.
- ^ Landler, Mark (June 9, 2016). "Film About Russian Lawyer's Death Creates an Uproar". The New York Times.
- ^ Kwong, Jessica (December 21, 2017). "Why Is Trump Russia Probe Investigating An Adoption Group?". Newsweek.
The foundation was financed by $500,000 in undisclosed donations primarily from rich Russians linked to a high-profile prosecutor as well as a Russian Railways deputy director Petr Katsvy.
- ^ Watson, Ivan; Arvanitidis, Barbara; Tarasova, Darya (July 12, 2017). "Trump's web of Russian ties grows with Miss Universe links". CNN.
Veselnitskaya is the founder of a non-governmental organization called the Human Rights Accountability Global Initiative Foundation.
- ^ Gray, Rosie (July 18, 2017). "Russian Anti-Sanctions Campaign Turned to California Congressman". The Atlantic.
Veselnitskaya, the lawyer in the meeting, has been deeply involved in the anti-Magnitsky Act effort in the U.S. as part of a group called the Human Rights Accountability Global Initiative Foundation that has lobbied in Congress against the legislation [...] Akhmetshin, who is currently in Europe, said in an email that there was one instance involving Behrends walking with former Democratic Congressman Ron Dellums, who was also part of the lobbying effort, to the office of the ranking Democrat on Rohrabacher's subcommittee.
- ^ Arnsdorf, Isaac (August 17, 2016). "From Russia, with love?". Politico.
The group is a six-month-old Delaware corporation called the Human Rights Accountability Global Initiative Foundation, and the new lobbyist is Rinat Akhmetshin, who appears occasionally in lobbying records but is known in foreign policy circles as a key pro-Russian operator. He was seen in House offices this summer accompanied by former Rep. Ron Dellums (D-Calif.), who also registered for the mysterious adoption advocacy group. Dellums, reached by phone, denied involvement with the group.
- ^ Абаринов, Владимир (Abarinov, Vladimir) (February 6, 2019). "Лоббист усыновления. За что Ахметшин получил полмиллиона долларов" [Adoption lobbyist. Why Akhmetshin received half a million dollars]. Радио Свобода (svoboda.org) (in Russian). Archived from the original on May 15, 2024. Retrieved May 15, 2024.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b Leopold, Jason; Cormier, Anthony; Loop, Emma; Tillman, Zoe (May 30, 2020). "Mueller Memos Part 7: These Documents Reveal What People Close To The President Told Mueller's Team About Trump And Russia". BuzzFeed News.
Robert Arakelian was the listed president of the non-profit, the Human Rights Accountability Global Initiative Foundation. [...] Though his position is redacted in the interview summary, Arakelian was listed on Delaware state records as the president, treasurer, secretary, and director of the foundation. [...] The foundation was officially created in February 2016, according to Delaware state records, and Arakelian is listed as the incorporator. But Arakelian told the FBI he "was not involved in the incorporation" and that it was actually Lieberman and the law firm BakerHostetler who "conducted" it.